I think that If The Revs can manage to get into the playoffs after their horrendous start that Taylor Twell should have the MVP all wrapped up. He is doint it almost by himself. Any comments? I'm sure there are
Ralston deserves a lot of credit, though my vote might now swing slightly in Twellman's favor after last night. Whether the Revs make the playoffs or not would not affect my vote in the least.
ruiz for MVP I think ruiz should be the MVP. The way he is playing right now, the galaxy will hop on his back and ride him straight to the championship. last night he took over the game in chicago and singlehandedly willed the galaxy to a win. he notched 2 goals late after being a goal down the majority of the match and lead the galaxy to victory on a far post rocket, go ahead goal that beat a spralling zack thornton. plus his team is in first place. and without him the galaxy would probably be in last. also he has scored more goals than any other galaxy player ever. Ruiz has my vote.
gotta go with Ruiz... The pressure of replacing Hernandez.... The # of game winning goals.... His form even in the U.S. open cup... And taking Alexi Lalas' bet of shooting more than 15 goals to win a watch....probably not a Rolex...hey it is MLS!?!?!?
Ruiz--Without him, LA probably misses the playoffs. With him, they have a legitimate shot at the Supporters Shield Twellman--Without him, the Revs are utter crap. With him, the Revs are crap.
Without Ruiz, LA would probably have a striker that passes the ball and creates goals for others. It's hard to evaluate these types of hypotheticals. Without Ruiz, LA probably gets somebody else. Whatever the theory on MVP, I don't believe Ruiz is playing well enough to merit an MVP. Twellman is having a better season. Still, the season isn't over. I'm almost tempted to give it to Edson Buddle. Too bad he he didn't get a little more time.
As one of fewer than 15000 humans who saw Edson Buddle play last night, I have to say that he played with tremendous confidence, and has skills that belie his age and size. His first goal was nothing special but his second was a great sharp-angle volley, and he was involved in a lot of the play despite being out of position at r-mid. MVP is a long way off but I expect to see him in national team camp in the near future.
Is that like the pressure that Twellman feels replacing Wolde Harris from last year's starting lineup? Twellman's doing his thing while being double and triple teamed by defenders, and he leads the league in fouls suffered. Also, he has 20 goals on a team on which Diallo, Serna, and Chacon all struggled to score for. Ruiz plays for a better team, but without Twellman the Revs would be worse than Tampa Bay was last year.
I'm only 3/4-kidding when I say the MVP of the Revs might be Kante. When he got into the starting lineup for the Revs, their defense finally settled down and the Revs started winning. My league MVP has to be Ruiz.
Agreed that LA is stronger than NER, but the difference in the teams is really at the back, not the front. The service Twellman gets from Ralston is every bit as good or better than the service Ruiz gets from Sasha and Kiwi. They are both having great years and there is not a lot to choose between them, so I can see the arguments both ways. I just don't think the "LA is a better team" argument is dispositive. Remember, Ruiz gets as many double or triple teams as Twellman, because LAG does not have another credible gunner on the field - many games (like Saturday) its been Ruiz or nobody.
On behalf of Rev fans everywhere, I'd like to heartily thank Carlos for the contribution he made against the fire on Saturday.
Trash talk Hernandez all you want (even though he was tied for the second most points for the Galaxy last year)... but after LA made the deal for the Mexican, I'm sure not too many people were ready to go for another Central American forward... let alone think that he was GOING TO WIN MVP his first year... The Twellman dude is good...but just this week alone, Ruiz has contributed 4 of the 5 Best goals of the week...
I agree wholeheartedly. It's not just Kante, either. The Revs have been playing well lately due to a number of factors. Winston Griffiths gives them a viable offensive threat on the left side for the first time all season (which gives Ralston breathing room). Danny Hernandez has been letting some bombs go from midfield as always, but every now and then one goes in, so he has to be watched. Wolde Harris has been playing his best soccer of the season, and Leo Cullen has been playing well in midfield. The Revs recent change in fortune has been because of all of these things. NOT just Twellman. JMac
If he could keep this up for a whole season, he would be my MVP by a good margin. He's up to a 1.12 goals+asssits per 90.
THe MVP has to be Ruiz.....he single handedly beat the Fire on Saturday night..... BTW.....this is my first post on the board....been reading everyday since i heard of the board 2 weeks ago.
thank you, and i' actually male....my name is a play on words.....Me - a - stud......with the obvious reference to Mia Hamm tied in.....thought it was a bit creative. Anyway, if anyone cares, here's how i came to know big soccer: Baseball has really fallen out of favor with me this year. ESPN kills it like a radio station kills a song; it's just way too overdone. I have always liked soccer, but i also always watched what was on television, and soccer is hardly ever televised here in the states. I went to a few mutiny matches back in 96-97 and enjoyed them but was never really a fanatic. Then, the 2002 World cup came rolling around and i found myself on a whole new sleep schedule. It's called 6am-2pm folks. That actually worked out alright, because I was taking that summer term off from college. I literally watched almost every game and loved every minute of it. Then, after the WC had ended, I certainly didn't want to go back to baseball. Football and Basketball hadn't started up yet so i felt i should just stick with it and see how MLS was doing. That was when IT started; i began reading MLS.net everyday in june and july, and checking attendance figures daily on that site. I was initially shocked to see how well the league was doing in that regard. I'll say this; since the MLS is NEVER mentioned in the national media, I had ass-u-me'd that no one was going to the games. But averaging 15,500? only one thousand less than the nba? ....definitely not bad. Then to support the league i ordered shootout, hoping the league sees some of my $50 and not just in demand. Anyhow, i was reading the clean sheet on mls.net when Mr. Bradley mentioned the threads on bigsoccer.com, and that's when i checked it out. It really is a wonderful site and the biggest, most actively participated one i've been a part of ever. Now, i just need some help in picking a new favorite team. Does anyone have any advice on how to do this? It seems like right now i'm more a fan of players than teams and i want that to change. Thanks all....and i'm glad to be here The new addict, Me-a-stud (Mia Stud)
Once again, welcome. BigSoccer is definitely a great site and MLS is (hopefully) an up and coming league, doing pretty well thank you. I'm sure MLS welcomes you back with open arms. Most people say to choose a team nearest you so you might get a chance to see them one day. Others just say do whatever suits you. Maybe you should wait 'til the beginning of next year to choose. For now, just enjoy the ride...
Nah, I say pick LA. If you enjoy winning, you gotta go with LA, nobody has won more games than LA. The only downside is no other team has had their heart pulled out of their chest as much as LA; 3 MLS Cup Finals, 1 US Open Cup semifinal, 1 Concacaf Champions Cup Final. But LA has been winning trophies since 2000, so the MLS Cup is soon to follow.
We need more addicts. Spread the drug liberally. Which team to support? Most people will recommend their own boring teams, but MLS has one team that shines far above the others, both in terms of their play and the intense passion of the fans. That is the Kansas City Wizards. The Wizards also have the best mascot. Teams I would avoid: (1) Chicago Fire. Nobody cares about them so they have to play in a community college or high school stadium (I can't remember which) (2) Metroturds. Aside from the great Clint Mathis, what else do they offer but boredom. Sadly, the league mandates that every ESPN game is Metrostars. (3) L.A. Galaxy. They can't buy a championship! (4) San Jose. The football equivalent of New Kids on the Block. If you want to pass of the glorius Wizards, I would recommend Columbus as a good second choice. Their fans can't compare with KC fans, but they're not bad.
Ben said it. Since there is no team within 500 miles of you, you might as well go with the one that gets the most exposure. Besides, the Metrostars have more stuff going on off the field than any other 2 teams combined. This is just a suggestion. It's actually too bad that the Fusion disbanded because they were very entertaining. BTW, you should also check out the MLS fantasy league on mlsnet.com. I know it's the end of the season and you have to wait until next year to really get into it, but I've been participating since August and it's been a blast. Have fun, soccer will be the sport of this century for the US of A.